Weekend Wanderings and Summer Treats

It’s been unnaturally warm recently in bonnie Scotland- we’ve actually had something resembling a summer and rain has, thankfully, been pretty minimal. I’ve missed out on alot of it so far thanks to working full time- not only have I been working in an office, but an editing room within an office. The only window I had looked onto the inside of the building. Hardly the frolicking and soft focus laughs that cider adverts would have us believe make up a Scottish summer.

On Friday, I finished up in my full time job and decided it was time to take advantage. My mum and dad are away touring the Highlands and islands for their 30th anniversary, leaving me with a car to myself. The thing I love most about Scotland is how little time it takes to get anywhere, and the boy and I thought we’d take advantage. Sunday was our 18 month-aversary and since we’ve both got some holiday time to use, we figured a road trip was in order.

We trawled Abandoned Scotland looking for spooky castles to go exploring, and discovered the relatively nearby Buchanan Castle in Stirlingshire. I only passed my test in January, and thanks to limited car access don’t have a huge amount of long-distance experience. A few wrong turns later, we ditched the castle idea and found ourselves in the tiny village of Luss, upon the beautiful shores of Loch Lomond– not a bad trade off, I’d say!

The glorious weather held up for the whole day, and I decided it merited a treat. In hot weather nothing beats a cold ice-cream, but for obvious reasons it’s not vegan friendly. Or, indeed, waistline friendly. There was only one thing for it- I had to go DIY. I’d stocked up on a tonne of silken tofu from ASDA’s reduced section, with packs going for a mere 30p each. I’d wasted one with an utterly boggin’ raspberry/coconut concoction that was fit only for the bin, and had to make this one count. Having used firm tofu in savoury foods, I was a teensy bit apprehensive about using it to make something sweet.

It didn’t take much of a search to find some easy silken tofu recipes- and almost all of them were for dessert shaped dishes. Alot of them were really simple, and the same ingredients kept cropping up in the most basic recipes. The best part? All of them were within reach.

After making my peanut butter/chocolate/banana milkshake to boost my flagging energy when I had the flu, I figured it couldn’t be that hard to adapt this to a frozen treat. The result was pretty goddamn delicious- the only difference I’d make would be to make it earlier in the day so I could stir it more continuously, rather than leave it to freeze overnight.